Dundee Rep and Dundee University have confirmed they are in talks for the theatre to take over the lease of the Bonar Hall in September.
The Rep will become tenants at the hall, using it for educational and learning activities and rehearsals, plus some performances, while the university will retain partial use of the venue for activities, including exams.
The collaboration was first mooted in October when university rector Brian Cox unveiled the new masters in theatre studies, the M.Litt. course at Dundee University in partnership with Dundee Rep.
Rep artistic director James Brining said at the time that both bodies were looking at the Rep using the Bonar Hall for a limited number of activities, creating a ”shared learning and performance space.”
However, he admitted the theatre was set to take over as tenants, with the university using it for around 13-14 weeks of the year.
The confirmation came after a university source claimed staff at the Bonar Hall were having to cancel existing bookings and ”knock back” further events, potentially costing the university tens of thousands of pounds.
The source said: ”Staff have been told their jobs are going to be redundant in September, and they’ve been cancelling bookings that were made for before then.
”The thing is the hall was donated to the people of Dundee by Sir Herbert Bonar and its sole purpose was to fulfil the needs of the Dundee public, but now they can’t use it for external bookings.
”Shows are being cancelled right, left and centre, and the customers are being told it’s being taken over by the Rep.
”It was usually full most Fridays and Saturdays. I’ve been told they’ve had to cancel or knock back 30 or 40 shows or events, so this must be costing the uni tens of thousands of pounds in lost revenue at a time when everybody’s strapped for money.”
Mr Brining agreed Dundee Rep intended to use the Bonar Hall for educational and learning activities, including youth theatre and school workshops.
He said: ”We have had some discussions and we are due to have more meetings with the university. I would say we are progressing these talks towards becoming a tenant at the Bonar Hall, but it is still very much at the discussion stage.”
A university spokesman said: ”The future use of the Bonar Hall has been under discussion for some time, in particular with a view to the development of a ‘creative campus’ with Dundee Rep.
”Conversations with the Rep are ongoing. In the meantime we are honouring as many confirmed bookings as possible in Bonar Hall, including weddings booked for this year.
”We have cancelled a small number of bookings by agreement with the other party and have withdrawn from some provisional bookings where there were no contractual obligations.
”We are continuing to use the hall for some university activities, including examinations.”
The spokesman added that of the four members of staff working at Bonar Hall, one had already been redeployed at the university while the others are expected to be redeployed in September.